river in southeastern Alabama and northwestern Florida, U.S., rising in Barbour County, Ala., and flowing southwest to Geneva, where it is joined by the Pea River. It then flows south into Florida and west to the east end of Choctawhatchee Bay, where it empties into an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The river, about 180 mi (290 km) long, is navigable in its lower course. The name derives from the Choctaw Indian tribe and hatchee, meaning “stream.”